Abstract

This paper explores the contribution of Vico's philosophy of imagination to a practical recognition of the importance of the imagination in the conduct of human affairs in general and in education in particular. Vico's claim that the imagination is an essential component of our human nature together with the claim that all human knowledge ultimately has its origins in the imaginative activities of our forebears (a claim which has received empirical support from recent research on the history of oral cultures) provides us with the necessary philosophical basis for establishing a logical connection between imagination and education. If accepted, such a perspective would, in my view, dispel much of the skepticism that still surrounds the role of the imagination in contemporary education.